1. Technical Field
The invention generally relates to an article-dispensing machine or a vending machine for dispensing articles or merchandises, such as beverage cans, bottles and candy bars, etc.
2. Background Art
Now, article-dispensing machines or vending machines have been used very widely. For example, a vending machine may be seen in streets, office buildings, campuses or hospitals, even in shopping malls or companies. There are various conventional vending machines, which are electric-power driven and/or have a complicated mechanical structure. In some company offices, the article-dispensing machines may not be equipped with money collection function so that they may not be used as the vending machine in the streets.
The use of conventional vending machines is restricted by electric power supply, because selection element and/or dispenser-controlling assembly operate only by use of electric power. For example, in transferring of a merchandise or article from a track to a retrieval area by a dispenser-controlling assembly, it is necessary to use an electromotive device and other necessary mechanism. Moreover, conventional vending machines generally have complicated mechanical structures. Such vending machines are not only expensive, but also difficult for maintenance and have high failure rate.